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I exploded again, fireworks and stars behind my eyes, my whole body lurching forward. I bowed over Khor Drath’s head, the warmth of his cords pressing through the thin material of my shirt. I held him tight against my breasts. My legs shook as pleasure rippled through me. I clutched at him, afraid to let go. Neverwantingto let go.

My breaths slowed as I dissolved back into myself. I released my hold and melted into the chair, blinking the stars from my eyes. Khor Drath stood in all his nebulous glory. His arms released my legs in a silky glide, creating shivers everywhere. Pleasure and satisfaction covered his face as surely as my glistening juices.

His fingers twitched at his sides, like he wanted to grab me but held himself back. His hungry eyes took in my form. My legs remained spread, open to his gaze, and another wave of heat swept over my skin.

I licked my lips, loving the look of him, then swallowed. He’d given me amazing orgasms; he’d called me his mate.Where do we go from here?I asked the question in my mind, hoping he’d hear.

He didn’t answer, and I leaned back in a huff, my gaze fixed on the ceiling as I grappled with a mix of emotions. A sense of unreality swept over me the longer I stared at the smooth ceiling above.

Something wasn’t right.

My stomach plummeted into my toes, panic squirreling around me in the wake of the free fall. The tangle of wires was missing, no longer hanging above. I touched my head. I’d had no nodes attached to me when I woke.

I lifted my head a bit, meeting Khor Drath’s eyes.What the hell is going on? Where am I?He didn’t move, didn’t twitch. The nebula on his skin no longer swirled.

Dread rising inside me, I opened my mouth and said, “Pineapple pizza.”

chapternine

I joltedinto myself and squinted against the glare of the bright lights from above. My hand lifted, blocking most of it as the tangled wires came into focus above me. Black, white, red, and blue—they hung heavy like a serpent in the way they had when I’d arrived. The sharp scent of antiseptic cleaner filled my head. My clothing stuck to me in odd ways from the sweat that had dried to my body.

This was real life.

The stuff that had come before…none of it had been real.

The sense of loss following the realization was painful.Too much.

I scrambled from my reposed position, yanking at the wires attached to my head and rolling to my feet. My chest rose and fell in fast breaths, overwhelmed, and I met Khor Drath’s gaze across the room.

He wasn’t sitting at his desk like I’d imagined, but standing at the counter beside it, rigid, his grip digging so hard into its surface it creaked.

I couldn’t catch my breath, like I was having some sort of panic attack. My fists clenched and relaxed over and over again, my thoughts disjointed because the world spun chaotically around me. Nothing made any sense.

“What is this?” My voice came out hoarse, like I’d been screaming for hours. I stared at the chair in front of me, at the little crescents my nails had made in the leather. Perhaps I had been. “What happened?”

I knew my questions didn’t make sense. Everything was becoming clearer the longer I stood here.It was all a dream. My reality solidified around me. I’d come here because I’d lost everything in that fucking sandstorm. Jordan had betrayed me, abandoned me, then took everything. Heinrick had told me to come.

Erotic dreams sold the best.

But those dreams had changed me—deconstructed, then rebuilt me. And they probably meantnothingto Khor Drath except that he’d been the star of the show. Just some stupid human’s wishful,sad, pathetic fantasies. I couldn’t meet his eyes and stared at the chair instead.

I swallowed, my chest burning in shame and loss. “Are you going to sell them when you’re in them all?” It probably wasn’t good for business.

“No.” Surprised by the harshness of his answer, I lifted my chin to gauge his expression. It was strange to hear his voice aloud after him being in my mind for so long. “Your dreams belong to me,mate.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Was this true? Had what happened in my dreams have anything to do with the real world? “I don’t understand.”

He pushed off the counter and the whole surface groaned. “Like I told you, my species can dream walk with our mates. You pulled me in as soon as you fell asleep.” He stalked between the counter and the desk, then headed straight to me, eyes burning bright white.

I took an involuntary step back and shook my head. “What are you even saying?” None of what had happened in the dream could be true, could it?

When he stopped, the only thing separating us was the chair.I knew the moment I saw you that you were my mate.

The sound of him in my head was like slipping into a soothing, warm bath. My exhale came out shaky, and I realized I’d pressed my hands to my heart. “And you’ve been here for two hundred years?”

He nodded once, his cords falling over his shoulders.

Relief spread through me. None of it had been fake. But could I trust that?